Pre-Health
PHAP Perspective: Careers in Pharmacy
Written by Chris Popovics '26, Pre-Med
It is a common misconception that all pharmacists do the same thing, as most of the time, people's interactions with pharmacists occurs at retail stores to get vaccinations or pick up medications. Many people who earn their pharmacy degree, commonly referred to as a PharmD, tend to work in hospital, clinical, and research settings. This degree, however, can open up other doors to career paths in law, business, consulting, and policy. Careers in pharmacy vary in many facets, and each type of pharmacists is essential in their own respective manner.
The most commonly thought of pharmacists are retail pharmacists. These are the pharmacists that work in local communities and ensure that members of that community are getting their proper medications and vaccinations. They play an important role in the health and safety of the community, and they work closely with prescribers and patients. Their vast knowledge of medications and pharmaceuticals allows them to help hundreds to thousands of patients develop regimens and ensure that they are using their medications wisely, timely, and accurately. Working with retail pharmacists for the majority of my career as a pharmacy technician, I can safely say that they are some of the kindest, smartest, and most caring people you will ever meet.
Pharmacists are also seen working in hospital settings. This role varies depending on whether the pharmacist works in a specialized setting, which can be direct patient care or non-direct patient care. Direct patient care consists of working directly with a team of medical professionals to develop treatment plans for patients. In this role, a pharmacist may provide immunizations, preventative care services, wellness screenings, medication therapy management, and counseling, while still upholding their typical responsibilities (e.g. compounding and dispensing medications). These pharmacists may work with patients in a variety of departments like cardiology, internal medicine, critical care, infectious disease, psychiatry, pediatrics, and more. Non-direct patient care focuses on aspects of pharmacy that do not involve direct work with patients. This type of care covers informatics, drug policy, investigational drugs, medication safety, and pharmacy leadership. This role of pharmacists in hospital settings can drastically differ, but their goal at the end of the day, is to provide the right course of treatment for their patients by working with a team of medical professionals.
Research is a common field in pharmaceuticals because they are the ones discovering groundbreaking medications that can be used by patients. These kinds of pharmacists design and conduct research experiments to explore new treatments and medications. Before releasing their findings, they conduct clinical trials involving medications through protocol review and they help determine the medication management process. This job requires significant attention to detail, but it can be very rewarding when a new discovery is made.
Lastly, many doctors of pharmacy choose to pursue a career in law, business, and/or policy, A common career that demonstrates this is a pharmaceutical consultant. This job entails knowing how medications work, while also having a firm understanding of business operations for pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, working in administrative aspects of organizations like NIH, or the FDA, are common examples of careers that combine a knowledge of pharmaceuticals with law and business.
In conclusion, pharmacists have a lot of variation in their careers, and they play an important role in the health and wellbeing of patients. There are many other careers in pharmacy that were not mentioned here, but these are some of the more common ones that come to mind. Simply put, a career as a pharmacist can open many rewarding opportunities, some that many are not aware of.